Olean, NY -- Olean, New York is about 2,700 miles from Portland, Oregon, but five students in Dr. Michael Russell's Event and Sponsorship Marketing class at St. Bonaventure University has made a huge impact anyway. The group of students had to plan and execute a charity event as a class assignment, and they chose to do it for the Chris Dudley Foundation.

Zachary Clark, Mike Iulianello, James Reed, Taylor Lang and Justin Walker decided to run a basketball tournament as their event, but not just any basketball tournament. It was to be held in memory of their late professor, Dr. John J. Watson, who passed away just this May of a massive heart attack at the young age of 45. Watson, a former collegiate and professional basketball player, taught in the Marketing Department of St. Bonaventure for nearly 8 years and was beloved by many.

"When faced with coming up with an event, we knew we wanted to do something sports related. Doing a basketball tournament and putting it in Dr. Watson's name just made sense." said Senior Zachary Clark. "Many of us had him for class and were close to him, and that just gave us some extra motivation to give an effort above and beyond what was expected of us."

The Inaugural John J. Watson 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament raised $3,072.62 for the Chris Dudley Foundation, a charity near and dear to the hearts' of the Watson family. John's son, Noah, was diagnosed with diabetes at a young age and has been a benefactor of the organization. The group had 10 teams for their first year and brought in over 15 local sponsors, which included local insurance agency the Iroquois Group and also Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

All of the proceeds that the group earned will go towards helping children attend the camp that can't afford it. "Knowing that we're able to help several kids get the education they need to live an active lifestyle is an amazing feeling in itself, but doing it honor of Dr. Watson is something extra special." Clark said.

The group hopes to pass on the torch of running the tournament to the next bunch that participates in the class. "There's been a ton of interest within the

community and faculty here to run the tournament again. We hope that someone picks up where we left off and is able to build upon it, not only for the Chris Dudley Foundation, but also for the memory of Dr. Watson."